Why He Is Different

Chapter 1

A young boy stumbled through the underbrush of the forest, completely lost. He hadn't meant to go too far out; he only wanted to find what he was looking for.

The boy tugged at his soft blonde hair in exasperation. "Now how am I going to find flowers for Mother, and bring them back to her?"

The poor twelve-year-old boy had only wanted to pick flowers and bring them back to his mother. She had fallen ill and was then confined far away from her home. Oliver, the young boy, had wanted to give flowers to his mother to make her feel well once more, or at least happier. Now, however, he was lost, and had no means of returning home or finding flowers.

As Oliver kept walking through the forest, he began to wish he had worn shoes. The grass beneath his bare feet felt more and more rough with every step he took.

Soon enough, Oliver was sitting beneath a tree and resting his aching feet. He remained there until he noticed how dark clouds were beginning to block out the cheery blueness of the sky.

"Shoot!" He scrambled up and started to run past the trees, searching for shelter to protect him from the rain that would soon be pouring down from the sky.

As he ran, Oliver began to feel tired. He ignored the feeling and kept running.

Suddenly, a wall of rock was right in Oliver's path. He tried to stop running, but the grass beneath his bare feet was dewy and slippery, which caused him to collide face-first with the rock wall and fall to the ground.

"Ow..." Oliver sat up, pressing his open palm against the bruise that was forming on his forehead. He looked up at the wall of rock. "I don't think there was ever a mountain in this forest... Can mountains even be in forests?" The last time Oliver had been in the forest, which was five whole years ago, there had never been any mountains.

Oliver stood up and leaned against the rock, trying to ignore the pain and the tiredness that was building up. He then remembered that it was going to rain and tried to get moving quickly, using the rock wall for support.

Suddenly, there was no rock wall beneath his hand. Oliver let out a yelp as he toppled over. As he sat up, Oliver realized that he discovered a cave.

Oliver stood up slowly, trying not to fall over again. As he walked deeper into the cave, his vision started to fade. The last thing he saw before blacking out was a really bright light. That, and faint silhouettes of people.